Posted by Cynthia
a resident of Crescent Park
on Feb 5, 2013 at 9:41 pm

How awful! As a mom to a 12 year old girl, I immediately did something I should have done years ago - I went onto the Megan's Law site and typed in my own zip code of 94301. I urge everyone to do the same. There are 6 registered sex offenders right HERE and now I know what they look like.

Just a good thing to do. Let's stay alert, watch over ALL our kids and help them feel safe.

Posted by Hanna
a resident of Old Palo Alto
on Feb 5, 2013 at 10:24 pm

Ana,
Why does an incident like this change your view about your kids biking to and from school? In the morning and when school gets out in mid-afternoon, there are lots of eyes on the street!

Truth is that many more kids are injured or killed as passengers than abducted by strangers. But since most of us drive every day, we underestimate the risk of injury inside that familiar metal box, and wildly overestimate the risk of abduction by strangers.

Plus this incident is reported to have occurred at 5:16 pm. Sunset was at 5:38 today. So if your middle school student doesn't have a buddy to ride with at that hour, maybe it's a rational choice to pick them up.

I agree with the comment above: "I am glad that this girl's parents taught her to ride a bicycle so she was able to outrun this guy." She also screamed loudly, which may also be a sign of wise parenting.

Posted by resident
a resident of Downtown North
on Feb 5, 2013 at 10:43 pm

If you're afraid of stuff happening to your kids when they bike to school, then just bike along with them. Maybe do some errands afterwards before you bike home. You'll be amazed how much more fun this is than driving your kids to school every day.

Posted by Raymond
a resident of East Palo Alto
on Feb 6, 2013 at 11:27 am

Is it any wonder that most of these assaults and attempts occur at or near the Train Corridor? Wake up Law Enforcement and clean out those Homeless camps and get the mentally Ill off of our streets and neighborhoods!

I see the Palo Alto Online staff removed my previous post without explanation. I was providing the Megan's website link, as well as some statistics about child safety. I was also informing residents that I am offering free self-defense classes to all students and staff through our local schools. Sorry if I did something wrong... (?)

According to the Family Watchdog site -- but not found on the Megan's Law registry as far as I can tell -- there's a registered sex offender living on Oregon Avenue, roughly 12-15 blocks from the site of this incident. From the photo and description at the Family Watchdog site, this man is a very close match to the description and sketch in the article.

Posted by Phony
a resident of Professorville
on Feb 7, 2013 at 6:43 pm

This whole story sounds fishy. There are so many things that are not right about this story that I suspect the girl made it all up. It would not be the first time this has happened. A woman recently claimed a man tried to steal her child from her arms, and now she has been arrested for making false claims.

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